[No surviving envelope]
Letter 16.
I have not written for a fortnight. I had rather a tiring weekend at Cambridge. IMorley, Christina (née Innes)in Cambridge;c9 saw Christina Morley (who is at her mother’s with the two girls) and discussed their rather complicated and difficult affairs with her – herInnes, Margaret Bird;a1 mother is now her responsibility, as there is no other relative to look after her; and she can’t return to America until she gets her settled; hadHutchinson, Mary;c7 to have tea with Mary Hutchinson; gaveHayward, Johndiscusses plays with TSE;l8 a good deal of time to John Hayward, and discussed plays with him (I hope that he will find some friends in London to take him in temporarily, so that he can see any flat before we take it); calledPickthorns, thevisited;a3 on the Pickthorns – and the only way to get about in Cambridge, except bicycle, is walking. Then I had to get up early, and breakfast with fellows; and in the evening some fellow is apt to ask me in after hall to meet some of his pupils. This will do pretty well for any visit to Cambridge, except that in the future the people who don’t belong there won’t be there. AndMurder in the Cathedral1945 Théâtre du Vieux Colombier production;g2;a3 ontravels, trips and plansTSE's June 1945 trip to Paris;f5;a1 Thursday I am off to Paris again, as the guest of the théâtre du Vieux Colombier, to attend the final rehearsals and to be present at the opening performance. Perhaps I was foolish to accept but I wanted to please the theatre people, who are enterprising to want to do this at the present time.
I have your letter of the 16th May, inAmericaDorset, Vermont;e3EH holidays in;a1 which you speak as if you had written about Dorset, Vermont. How much of the summer do you intend to be there, and what sort of a hotel or community is it? I thought at first that you might be one of the dim people in the advertisement (not the one on the putting green) but I don’t remember your ever going there before. And you speak very calmly of having taken a whole house – or a whole half-house? Will you be able to get a resident servant? If not, it seems rather a good thing that your present landlady should be so close at hand, if it does not mean that she will always be popping in to be entertained. But I am delighted that you can at last have your own possessions with you again. I wonder if I shall see you in this abode. Itravels, trips and planspossible post-war American visit;f6;a3 shall certainly aim to come to America for a visit as soon as it is permissible. That means, first, the restoration of normal passenger traffic; and second, the permission to use one’s own money. IBritish Councilwartime trip to Paris;a8 can’t even go to Paris yet, except when the British Council get permission for me; and I can only go at the expense of the Council, or, on the present occasion, by having people to keep me while there. For I can only take ten pounds out of the country with me: enough to live in Paris, at the present rate of exchange, for about a day and a half. Of course, if these restrictions are not withdrawn in the course of a year, I should have to face the prospect of going to America as a lecturer – if anyone would invite me. But if I did a lecture tour (the last thing I want to do) I should probably only be able to see the people I want to see – that is, you and my near relatives – for a few brief glimpses; and if I was appointed to a university, I should have to stay for six months at least. So I should much prefer to come for a shorter time, and be quite free and only do what I want to do and be where I want to be.
But which is the portrait that was over the mantelpiece of the drawing-room at Circuit Road?
I shall again not write for a fortnight: I am going on Thursday; the first performance is on Monday next; and I hope to get a passage back on the Tuesday or Wednesday. Then I hope to have a long weekend, write letters – I want to get settled in furnished rooms in London before settling down to any serious piece of work.
11.JohnHayward, John Davy Hayward (1905–65), editor and critic: see Biographical Register.
3.MaryHutchinson, Mary Hutchinson (1889–1977), literary hostess and author: see Biographical Register.